This focus of this invention is the simulation of three-dimensional images on a display screen. Traditional three-dimensional simulation requires each viewer to wear glasses that separate left and right eye images. There are at least two drawbacks to this traditional approach. The first is that the glasses reduce the image brightness. The second is that the glasses approach discriminates against persons having monocular vision. Whereas those having monocular vision can obtain a three-dimensional perspective of the world around them by movement within their environment, simulation of three-dimensional images using glasses fails to provide such an effect. Third, the glasses are uncomfortable for many. Fourth, the need for image splitting glasses makes certain desirable three-dimensional displays, such as billboards, or a scene in a theme park queue or ride, impractical. Fifth, the need for glasses to create a three-dimensional image would be unusable in a composite image where, for example, a three-dimensional image is used as a backdrop in a stage play with live actors.
The resolution of display screens has continued to increase over time. However, the ability of the human eye to discern the pixels (at a given distance) has not kept pace with the improved technology. In fact, it remains unchanged. Beyond a specific viewing distance, humans cannot discern the difference between a 2K and a 4K resolution screen. Given that display resolutions are likely to continue to increase with time, the present invention proposes that a portion of the enhanced resolution can be sacrificed in order to provide three-dimensional viewing of an image without the use of glasses to separate left and right images.
Lenticular Printing and Three-Dimensional Simulation
An illusion of depth, the ability to simulate movement within an image, or a complete change in image can be provided by lenticular printing, a technology that dates from the early 1940s. This technology employs a unified array of adjoining parallel cylindrical lenses, or lenticules, known as a lenticular lens. The illusion of depth, simulated movement or a change in images occurs as the lenticular print is viewed from different angles. Though originally used primarily for the manufacture of novelty items, such as the “wiggle picture” prizes found in Cracker Jack® snack boxes that feature flip and other animation effects such as winking eyes, technological advances in recent years in the design of large-format presses have allowed for the use of oversized lenticular lenses which provide greater ranges of perceived motion and depth. Thus, lenticular prints are now being used extensively for advertising graphics that change their message as the viewing angle changes and for marketing tools, which show products in motion or operation. The use of lenticular images has seen a recent surge in popularity, and they are now found on magazine covers, on trading cards, as well as on sports posters and on signs in stores that intended to attract the attention of customers.
Lenticular printing is a multi-step process whereby an interlaced image of at least two pictures or photographs is combined with a lenticular lens. Using the latest precision manufacturing techniques, thirty or more images can be combined. This process can be used to create various frames of animation (for a motion effect), to provide multiple layers having different incremental offsets (for a 3D effect) or, simply, to show a set of alternate images which may appear to transform, or morph, into each other. Once the various images are collected, each image is compressed either horizontally or vertically (depending on the planned orientation of the lens lenticules) into individual frame files, and then combined into a single final file using a process called interlacing. For modern lenticular processing, file compression and interlacing are performed using a digital computer. The process is then completed by printing the interlaced image directly on the smooth, backside of the unified lens array. Alternatively, the interlaced image can be printed on a substrate (ideally a synthetic paper), which is then laminated to a lenticular panel, or lens. When printing to the backside of the lens, the critical registration of the fine “slices” of interlaced images must be absolutely correct during the lithographic or screen printing process, otherwise “ghosting” and poor imagery will result. Ghosting is defined as the failure of one of the interlaced images to completely disappear after the viewing angle has been changed in order to view the second image. Although lens quality and lighting conditions are the two most important factors in minimizing ghosting, ghosting can also occur when demand for an effect exceeds the limits and technical capabilities of the lenticular system. Nevertheless, the perception of ghosting can be minimized if the interlaced images are precisely registered so that similar details on one image are superimposed over those of the other(s). If the interlaced images are properly registered (i.e., aligned) with the lens spacing, the combined lenticular print will show two or more different images simply by changing the angle from which the print is viewed. If thirty or more images taken in a sequence are used, one can even show a short video of about one second. Though normally produced in sheet form, by interlacing simple images or different colors throughout the artwork, lenticular images can also be created in roll form with 3D effects or multi-color changes. Alternatively, one can use several images of the same object, taken from slightly different angles, and then create a lenticular print which shows a stereoscopic 3D effect. 3D effects can only be achieved in a side to side (left to right) direction, as the viewer's left eye needs to be seeing from a slightly different angle than the right to achieve the stereoscopic effect. Other effects, like morphs, motion, and zooms work somewhat better (less ghosting or latent effects) as top-to-bottom effects due to both eyes of the viewer having the same viewing angle, but can be achieved in both directions. There are several film processors that will take two or more pictures and create lenticular prints for hobbyists, at a reasonable cost. Affordable equipment and software is even available for making lenticular prints at home or in the office. This is in addition to the many corporate services that provide high volume lenticular printing.
There are many commercial end uses for lenticular images, which can be made from PVC, APET, acrylic, and PETG, as well as other materials. While PETG and APET are the most common, other materials are becoming popular in order to accommodate outdoor use and special forming due to the increasing use of lenticular images on cups and gift cards. Lithographic printing of lenticular images involves the deposition of ink directly onto the flat side of the lenticular lens. For the creation of high-resolution photographic lenticulars, the interlaced image is typically laminated to the lens. Large format (over 2 m) lenticular images have recently been used in bus shelters and movie theaters. These images are printed using an oversized lithographic press. Many advances have been made to the extrusion of lenticular lens and the way it is printed which has led to a decrease in cost and an increase in quality.
The newest lenticular technology is manufacturing lenticular images using flexo, inkjet and screen-printing techniques. The lens material comes in a roll or sheet which is fed through flexo or offset printing systems at high speed, or printed with UV inkjet machines (usually flat-beds that enable a precise registration). This technology allows high volume 3D lenticular production at low cost. Because, at the beginning of the story, this new technique only allowed to create non contiguous lenses, the only effect available was the 3D effect with a repeating pattern (moiré). In 2010, a European R&D team (Popims) found a method for printing contiguous lenses and is licensing this technology to printing companies. Specific inks are already produced under license of their patents by a major inks and varnishes manufacturer.
On Feb. 26, 2011, the Nintendo 3DS was first released in Japan. The following month, it was released for sale worldwide. The Nintendo 3DS (usually abbreviated to, simply, 3DS) is a portable game console that is capable of displaying stereoscopic 3D effects without the use of 3D glasses or additional accessories. The 3DS contains two separate screens. A top screen is a 5:3 autostereoscopic LCD screen with a display resolution of 800×240 pixels (400×240 pixels per eye, WQVGA). On the original 3DS console, the screen measures at 3.53 in (90 mm), while on the 3DS XL it measures at 4.88 in (124 mm). The screen is able to produce a three-dimensional effect without the need of 3D-enabling glasses using a parallax barrier. In order to adjust the effect's intensity, there is a 3D Depth Slider next to the screen, which enables the user to adjust the intensity of the 3D effect, or turn it off altogether. A bottom screen is a 4:3 resistive touchscreen with a display resolution of 320×240 pixels (QVGA). On the original 3DS console, the screen measures 77 mm (3.02 in) diagonal, while on the 3DS XL it measures at 106 mm (4.18 in).
It appears that the screen display of the Nintendo 3DS game console was, at least, loosely based on the design of U.S. Pat. No. 7,417,664 to former Sony employee, Seijiro Tomita, as Nintendo was required by the judgment of a lawsuit, brought against it by Tomita, to pay a royalty of 1.82% of the wholesale price of each unit sold to Tomita.
Three Dimensional Images Created with Holography
Holography is the science and practice of making holograms. The term holography comes from the Greek words holos (“whole”) and graphe (“writing” or “drawing”). A hologram is a photographic recording of a light field, rather than of an image formed by a lens, and it is used to display a fully three-dimensional image of a holographed subject, which is seen without the aid of special glasses or other intermediate optics. The hologram itself is not an image and it is usually unintelligible when viewed under diffuse ambient light. It is an encoding of the light field as an interference pattern of seemingly random variations in the opacity, density, or surface profile of the photographic medium. When suitably lit, the interference pattern diffracts the light into a reproduction of the original light field and the objects that were in it appear to still be there, exhibiting visual depth cues such as parallax and perspective that change realistically with any change in the relative position of the observer.
Holography can be thought of as somewhat similar to sound recording, whereby a sound field created by vibrating matter like musical instruments or vocal cords, is encoded in such a way that it can be reproduced later, without the presence of the original vibrating matter.
In its pure form, holography requires the use of laser light for illuminating the subject and for viewing the finished hologram. In a side-by-side comparison under optimal conditions, a holographic image is visually indistinguishable from the actual subject, if the hologram and the subject are lit just as they were at the time of recording. A microscopic level of detail throughout the recorded volume of space can be reproduced. In common practice, however, major image quality compromises are made to eliminate the need for laser illumination when viewing the hologram, and sometimes, to the extent possible, also when making it. Holographic portraiture often resorts to a non-holographic intermediate imaging procedure, to avoid the hazardous high-powered pulsed lasers otherwise needed to optically “freeze” living subjects as perfectly as the extremely motion-intolerant holographic recording process requires. Holograms can now also be entirely computer-generated and show objects or scenes that never existed.
Holography should not be confused with lenticular and other earlier autostereoscopic 3D display technologies, which can produce superficially similar results but are based on conventional lens imaging. Stage illusions such as Pepper's Ghost and other unusual, baffling, or seemingly magical images are also often incorrectly called holograms.
Holography can be better understood by comparing it with ordinary photography:                A hologram represents a recording of information with respect to light that was reflected, or scattered, in a range of directions, rather than from only one direction, as in a photograph. This allows the scene to be viewed from a range of different angles, as if it were still present.        Although a photograph can be recorded using normal light sources, such as sunlight or electric lighting, a hologram must be recorded with a laser.        A lens is required to record a photographic image, whereas in holography, the light from the object is scattered directly onto the recording medium.        A holographic recording requires a second light beam (the reference beam) to be directed onto the recording medium.        A photograph can be viewed in a wide range of lighting conditions, whereas holograms can only be viewed with very specific forms of illumination.        When a photograph is cut in half, each piece shows half of the scene. When a hologram is cut in half, the whole scene can still be seen in each piece. This is because, whereas each point in a photograph only represents light scattered from a single point in the scene, each point on a holographic recording includes information about light scattered from every point in the scene. It can be thought of as viewing a street outside a house through a 120 cm×120 cm window, then through a 60 cm×60 cm window. One can see all of the same things through the smaller window (by moving the head to change the viewing angle), but the viewer can see more at once through the 120 cm window.        A photograph is a two-dimensional representation that can only reproduce a rudimentary three-dimensional effect, whereas the reproduced viewing range of a hologram adds many more depth perception cues that were present in the original scene. These cues are recognized by the human brain and translated into the same perception of a three-dimensional image as when the original scene might have been viewed.        A photograph clearly maps out the light field of the original scene. The developed hologram's surface consists of a very fine, seemingly random pattern, which appears to bear no relationship to the scene it recorded.        
The Hungarian-British physicist Dennis Gabor was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1971 “for his invention and development of the holographic method”. His work, done in the late 1940s, was built on pioneering work in the field of X-ray microscopy by other scientists, including Mieczyslaw Wolfke in 1920 and William Lawrence Bragg in 1939. The discovery was an unexpected result of research into improving electron microscopes at the British Thomson-Houston (BTH) Company in Rugby, England, and the company filed a patent in December 1947 (patent GB685286). The technique as originally invented is still used in electron microscopy, where it is known as electron holography, but optical holography did not really advance until the development of the laser in 1960.
A hologram can be made by shining part of a laser light beam directly into the recording medium, and the other part onto the object in such a way that some of the scattered light falls onto the recording medium. A more flexible arrangement for recording a hologram requires the laser beam to be aimed through a series of elements that change it in different ways. The first element is a beam splitter that divides the beam into two identical beams, each aimed in different directions. One beam (known as the illumination or object beam) is spread using lenses and directed onto the scene using mirrors. Some of the light scattered (reflected) from the scene then falls onto the recording medium. The second beam (known as the reference beam) is also spread through the use of lenses, but is directed so that it doesn't come in contact with the scene, and instead travels directly onto the recording medium.
Several different materials can be used as the recording medium. One of the most common is a film very similar to photographic film (silver halide photographic emulsion), but with a much higher concentration of light-reactive grains, making it capable of the much higher resolution that holograms require. A layer of this recording medium (e.g., silver halide) is attached to a transparent substrate, which is commonly glass, but may also be plastic.